Chinese envoy says US undermining global economy, coronavirus fight

"The US has done its utmost to engage itself in blaming games and stigmatization of China, and WHO, so as to shift its own responsibility for ineffective control of the pandemic in the US."

By REUTERS

MAY 15, 2020 16:35

Employees work on a production line manufacturing face masks at a factory, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Fuzhou, Fujian province, China February 15, 2020

(photo credit: CNSPHOTO VIA REUTERS)

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A Chinese envoy has accused the United States of undermining the global economy by building trade barriers and artificially prolonging the global coronavirus pandemic by halting funding to the World Health Organization.

China's ambassador to the United Nations in Vienna, Wang Qun, made the unusually harsh remarks at a meeting with officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), headquartered in Vienna.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday signaled a further deterioration in relationship with China over the virus outbreak, saying he had no interest in speaking to President Xi Jinping right now and going so far as to suggest he could even cut ties with the world's second-largest economy.

In an interview with Fox Business Network, Trump said he was very disappointed with China's failure to contain the disease and that the pandemic had cast a pall over his January trade deal with Beijing, which he has previously hailed as a major achievement.

Wang thanked OPEC for the efforts to stabilize global oil markets but then devoted most of his remarks to the stand-off with Washington.

"The US has done its utmost to engage itself in blaming games and stigmatization of China, and WHO, so as to shift its own responsibility for ineffective control of the pandemic in the US," Wang said on Thursday, according to remarks published on Friday.

"Such acts by the US have not only disrupted and undermined international efforts and cooperation against the pandemic, but also artificially prolonged, in effect, the pandemic, and subsequently the standstill of the global economy, which will, in turn, result in the outbreak of systemic risks in some countries in debt-servicing and financial system," he said.

Trump has often criticized the WHO for being slow off the mark and "China-centric" in the fight against the coronavirus and has said he is withdrawing funding. His critics accuse him of a slow and haphazard response to the pandemic, with the United States recording the world's highest number of deaths at more than 85,000.

Wang also said Washington was jeopardizing the global economic recovery with the slapping of arbitrary tariffs, which have provoked trade frictions and disputes.

Such policy measures would drastically reduce the volume of international trade and disrupt the free movement of global commodities, personnel and services, Wang said.

"China now manufactures 30% of the world’s industrial goods and boasts 30% of the world’s trading volume. So, given such factors as costs, labor and workers, infrastructure and operating costs, how can the supply chain in China be relocated overnight by another country at will?" Wang said.

He also accused Washington of exacerbating humanitarian crises in countries such as Iran and Venezuela with new "long-arm extra-territorial sanctions", which were also distorting global oil supply and further destabilizing the Middle East.

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